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About the CHR Program

Commercial fruit, nursery/landscape, and vegetable production are part of a thriving agriculture industry in Alabama. For over a hundred years, farmers and consumers have received multi-faceted crop production and marketing training from the Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES). The agriculture input suppliers/crop retailers, consisting of farmer cooperatives, small retailers and big box stores, are the backbone of the $70 million fruit and vegetable industry. These suppliers are not only part of the gardening and farm communities but also serve as local consultants. Therefore, it is very important to provide technical training to crop retailers and ACES is proud to launch the first focused initiative to fill this training need. The Certified Horticultural Retailer (CHR) is a program that will provide many incentives to participating retailers, including annual technical training regarding crop production systems.

Tracks

The CHR program will deliver multi-track training incorporating conventional and organic production systems, landscape, greenhouse and nursery industry. Some training topics include: